Mom drops kids to neighbor from balcony during house fire

The mother dropped her children, including an infant in a car seat, to a neighbor waiting below.

Ginn said he was about to break the door in and saw the woman was preparing to jump.

HUNTSVILLE, AL (WAFF) -

A Huntsville woman and her three children
narrowly escaped their home after it caught fire early Sunday morning.

It happened on the 4900 block of Cotton Row.
The woman had to drop her kids off a second-floor balcony to a neighbor. Chris
Ginn said he was at home when he heard a big boom, followed by his neighbors'
screams for help. He said he saw glass breaking and smelled smoke.

Fire crews said the woman had no way to
escape the second floor of her home because of heavy smoke and fire near the
front door. When Ginn went around to the back of the home, he said he saw the
woman with her three kids on the balcony, including an infant in a car seat.

Ginn said he was about to break the door in
and saw the woman was preparing to jump. He had her drop the kids down to him,
and he caught them one by one.

"I realized she needed help, so I just wanted
to help as fast as I can. I just prayed and hoped that everything was going to
be okay, and it was okay," said Ginn.

Fire officials said the cause is still under
investigation, but they know it started in a closet near the water heater.
Crews said the heat caused a water pipe to burst, extinguishing the flames
before firefighters attended to it.

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